Sports Racers

Sports Racers (SR) are yet another contingent of racecars we see at RMVR. These fairly unique and, more often than not, beautifully designed racecars were purpose built for one reason – to go racing – and were never really intended for street use. They are similar in construction to their close counterpart, the open wheel formula cars, except Sports Racers have full bodies covering their wheels.

A gaggle of RMVR’s finest Sports Racers.Photo Credit: Wendell Young

Classes for Sports Racers range from A-SR (the big guns over 2.0 liters) thru D-SR (the smallest displacements, under 850cc). They cover a wide range of performance from cars competitive with small bore production cars up to the fearsome unlimited V-8 powered Can-Am race cars produced by McLaren or Chaparral, which are beholden to no one. Constructors range from well known companies like Lotus, Elva, or McLaren to one-off cars built in someone’s garage to such elite cars as the Cooper Monaco.

Since classification is determined solely by the car’s engine displacement, the engines can be tweaked to whatever degree the owner desires and still remain in its designated class (A thru D). The only construction restriction is that wheels must be covered with body work and the full width cockpits provide (at least in theory) for a second seat, a token reference to their “sport car” heritage.

Sports Racers may not always run in the same run group. Generally they run with the production cars, but in run groups commensurate with their speed. Unfortunately we seldom have enough Sports Racers to have an entire SR run group, but … there’s always hope! We’re seeing more and more of these lovely cars return to our events.

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About RMVR

Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing is a non-profit club of more than 500 members who are vintage racing enthusiasts. Our club's primary focus is the organization, production, and sanctioning of vintage car races in the Rocky Mountain region. We have over 500 eligible cars over thirty years old. Familiar names include Austin Healey, Corvette, Lotus, MG, Mini, Porsche, Triumph, Formula Ford and Formula Vee. In addition, some more exotic and perhaps lesser known names such as McLaren, Lola, Abarth, Morgan, Siata and Zink participate in our events. Engines range from less than 1000cc to more than 6 liters of "ground-pounding" force.

As Charter Members of the national Vintage Motorsports Council, we are pledged to "promote the preservation of these cars in a racing format which emphasizes driver safety and etiquette." To achieve this goal, we have developed our own team of race officials including Event Chairs, Race Stewards, Registrars, Corner Marshals, Starters, Tech Inspectors, and Timing and Scoring and Pit and Grid Staff.